


Unforgettable

by BakerTumblings



Series: Repairing the Broken Things [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Blankets are also for fun, Blankets are for shock, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27355741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BakerTumblings/pseuds/BakerTumblings
Summary: The peripheral perspective of the motorist who discovered the accident scene.John will never remember - this motorist will never forget.++This piece is part of the Repairing the Broken Things series and will probably make no sense at all without having read at least part 1, which tells the journey of John and Sherlock after John was injured in a car accident.
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Series: Repairing the Broken Things [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1879567
Comments: 22
Kudos: 51





	Unforgettable

(an excerpt from an email)

_Hey mum_

_Made it to University just fine, the apartment is great, will send pics when I get the boxes unpacked. Can't wait for the rest of the students to arrive and I can finally get to teaching._

_Little excitement on my drive here, actually. Been keeping me up a little, thought rather than call you and make you worry, I'd throw it in an email._ _I'm fine. Nothing bad happened to me, not at all. So don't worry._

_No really, I mean it, don't worry._

_I had just gotten back on the road after a quick rest stop, stretched my legs etc, which as you know I do every couple hours while driving. The road was mostly deserted and I was just singing along with the radio, going the speed limit. That stretch of road was familiar, and I am always careful of the curves especially at night, and it was barely ten o'clock or something so not even ... well, I guess for me, it wasn't too late. I know you and pop turn in early (you lightweights ;-)_

_So I came upon an accident, all of a sudden. One of the vehicles upside down, the other on its side, and I was like ... well if you must know, the word was Shit! It must not have happened too long before, as I think one of the tyres was still spinning. So I pulled off, threw the flashers on, managed to call 999. Didn't know cross streets or anything, just a basic idea of location ... so anyway, they asked if there were injuries so I went over to the closest ... I guess it was a box truck. Had to stop talking to put the mobile torch on. And good god, the driver was just ... crushed behind the steering wheel, inside. His one eye was open. Older guy. I didn't look at him much, I couldn't. So I told the dispatch that the one guy was certainly gone. And the operator asked about the other car, so I went over but I was scared, truthfully, of finding another dead person worse than ... well you know. My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped the mobile._

_So the other car, all this head-on damage. Good grief, even now my palms are sweaty, mum. I still feel my heart pounding, knowing it was probably bad._

_And I hear this voice, real quiet, a man's voice. "Help me." I thought I was hearing things, and then again, "Please, help me!"_

_I told the dispatcher that there was a person talking in the other car, and she assured me help was on the way, police and ambulance. She asked for more information so I went to see. There was this guy, kind of crumpled inside, upside down, and he'd just released his seat belt and was on the roof of the car. So I told him help was coming. He was barely able to say much, said he couldn't breathe. He was kind of bloody, his forehead and stuff. But it got worse when the dispatcher asked me if he was alone in the car so I shone the torch in the back, and there was a car seat and a few kid toys. I asked him if he was alone in the car, if his baby was in the car with him. He mumbled something about Rose, but I didn't see anyone else there. And then he started to try to get out, moving around so much and trembling, and his one arm was bent funny, obviously even to me, broken. I kept telling him to be still in case, not to make his injuries worse._

_I ran back to my car for that light brown fleece blanket you gave me once, that I kept in the boot for emergencies. Rushed back and spread it over him. He kept saying something that sounded like Rose. I tried to keep him talking, and the dispatcher wanted him to answer a few questions but he was just so out of it. And breathing really like ... panting. But there was no baby in the car and it didn't look like there'd been. When he made any sense it was asking for Rose. Although then he got upset, mentioning someone else, to tell someone else, Shirl, and he got agitated. And then he was really struggling to breathe. But I was supposed to tell someone something, it was really important to him, and even though he managed to grab my sleeve trying to tell me, looking at me but not really seeing, I never did hear the message clearly except the 'I'm sorry' and 'thanks.' The name though, Shirl Locke. Maybe Lach._

_I stayed on the phone with the dispatcher and it seemed like forever until there were sirens. I found myself wishing I knew more than basic first aid, because he was hardly talking at all by the time a policeman showed up, and the officer told me the ambulance was right behind. He checked that the man had a pulse, tried to talk to him until the crew came, and I hung out a little in the background while they worked because the cop asked me to stay a moment. It took all three of them to get the man out of the car, you know, backboard and one of those rigid cervical collars, but then they noticed he was breathing even worse so they ended up getting more equipment, started one of those IVs, and did something to him, put some sort of breathing tube in, all right there in the street. It seemed a good thing that they didn't need to do CPR on him, but it was still really scary, just the medics and the one policeman. Eventually they loaded him up, the ambulance raced away, lights and sirens, and officer came over to get information from me, which was basically nothing except for that bit about his daughter. They didn't think she'd been in the car either._

_The other driver, they checked on briefly, must've agreed that he was already gone, covered him with a plastic sheet. Eww._

_The officer told me he was lucky I'd shown up when I did because, according to the medic, the man would not have been breathing too much longer._

_I was still shaking an hour later when I got home. Nothing like a car accident, especially one like this, a bad one where someone died, to make you think of it every time you get behind the wheel._

_So just in case, not that I'm planning on anything going wrong, but just in case mum, know that I love you very much. And that I'm driving safely. Always seat-belted in. And that I replaced that blanket, I was grateful to have had it. Got red this time because it was on sale._

_Hope he makes it. The damage to the vehicles was bad, and that breathing tube looked absolutely awful. I guess I also hope he got a chance to deliver whatever message he had. Because it certainly seemed desperate._

_Gotta run, study group tonight. Always something ;-)_

_Can you make those biscuits I liked, the lemon ones, next time I'm home?_

...

++

The back of John's closet was finally cleaned out, many items set aside for donation (though not as much as Sherlock would have liked, John knew, even as he grinned knowing that not every man would have more than thirteen pairs of dress shoes). He'd ended up pushing much of whatever clothing he was keeping through the laundry, and he was folding the items he'd just washed and dried. One item, something he'd dumped it from a 'Patient Belongings' bag, he didn't recognise: a beige fleece blanket. "I don't remember this." Holding it up, he showed Sherlock and related where it had come from. "Must have been from the hospital in Scotland."

Sherlock came over to look. "Me neither." He touched it, puzzling a little at the weight. "Not standard ambulance issue, too thick, wrong colour."

"Do you think it was someone else's, got mixed in with my things there?"

Raising a shoulder, he considered that _only_ John's things had followed him between hospital rooms, that he'd watched the nurses pack all of them each time he'd been moved. "I doubt it. Keep it. Not a bad thing to have on hand for emergencies. You never know when someone might need a shock blanket."

They shared a grin at the reference, but then even as he still wondered, John agreed. "Maybe when Rosie gets up from her nap, we'll build her a blanket fort."

"And then later," Sherlock whispered, his voice low in John's ear as he bent down and leaned in to nuzzle at his temple, "we can build our own blanket fort."

"With our own blankets, maybe," John admonished lightly even as he nuzzled back in agreement, and they shared a hopeful smile and connection through where their bodies were touching. Carefully, so as not to aggravate his mostly-healed injuries, John tucked the folded blanket under his arm. "This one's for Rosie."

**Author's Note:**

> There are other characters in this series that certainly could tell their version of what they saw. I enjoyed considering who else observed John and Sherlock's relationship.
> 
> Many years ago I happened upon a car vs. motorcycle accident. The similarities to this accident - the discovery of a trauma victim who has obviously, immediately died on impact - are still a little unnerving. Buckle up, be careful.


End file.
